Document Mw7G6yKwQdY1nddmx1mKbVgL

HILL AND KNOVI.TON. Inc ^- ENVIRONMENT: PLASTICS INDUSTRY ASKS WITHDRAWAL OF PROPC6KD Cl iANGE OF VINYL CHLORIDE STANDARD Ralph L. Harding. |r., president of the Society of die Plasties Industry, today asked the Enviromnontal Protection Agency to withdraw its proposed changes in the national air emissions standard for vinvi chloride. Hurtling, testifying at an open meeting called by KPA, said the am nry's proposed am.ndiin iUs Were "not responsible" and totally unnecessary to proli et public health. Harding told EPA that the entire process surrounding the agency's proposed revisions in the vinyl chloride standard "reflect nothing more than capitulation (by EPA1 because of a suit filed Ity an environmentalist group. " r-d t till. Ill k`1 U' OF NATJONAI At \ .VVi. J\f . '1 A>HIS<Vtr:>V ywy.'to'*: Kit^' M 'i *'<1 i* t TIN' O iit i{! p r t( A * f> (No. 1 BUSINESS POl|^ (DER; 7-19-7 Harding said EPA's original standard for \tftyl chioridc, promulgated on October 21, 1976, was "developed openly, in consultation with ail interested parties, and was an example of responsible agency action. " The most striking aspect of the proposed new regulations, he said, "is die absence of any justification for changing a standard which lus i.ven in effect now for only nine months. " Sl'l has lven unable to find any new health data, nor has EPA cited any new data as the basis for revising live standard, Harding said. Under the lu"o standard, emissions would have been reduced m trace amounts less than 2 [virts per hilli'Mi, SPI said, "We doubt dial the concentration.'' V,'H even tv that high," Harding said, adding that given tile small amounts of vinyl chloride involved, "why change the standard so soon without some evidence of need?" Harding called for a reject ion of the proposed standard-revisions. Instead, he said, EPA should cstalilish a "periodic review process under which any changes to the standard can !v considered rational]',' in die same open manner in which the initial standard was developed," j ml pledged plastics industry cooperation in efforts to regulate vinyl chloride in a "responsible manner. " j j: F 'j i ; ; i i! 11 l! i BFS 009253 The Washington Post July 20, 1977 Vinyl Chloride Triggering ^ Another Environmental Fight By Bradley Graham Wsshincton Post BtaM Writer Vinyl chloride, the cancer-causing chemical which menaces the plastics industry, again has roused industrial ists and environmentalists to fierce debate over when enough is enough. In open hearings yesterday, indus try spokesmen angrily denounced as unnecessary, useless and too costly strict new standards to limit the emis sion of vinyl chloride. But an attorney for the Environ mental Defense Fund, the leading pro ponent of federal action, claimed the new regulations--the second set of emission standards to be strapped on the industry in nine months--are nec essary to jell plastic manufacturers into developing more efficient cleanair technology. Until 197-1. vinyl chloride cepted as a cheap and almo|^ oils gas used as a propellan tieides and hair spraysrand' ingredient in a^Ccommon5 (polyvinyl chloj^deTratjlicPin flooring, car upholstetfrL-wrapping, pipes, pho nograph fecorgsTlUm and other prod- _1iSl refyitt' months, however, the Ccpentical has been blamed for the caiv NSe^death of at least a dozen indus trial workers. Several studies suggest prolonged exposure to vinyl chloride can cause a rare and fatal form of liver cancer in the hundreds of em ployees who work in. and 4.6 million people who live within five miles ot. the nation's 58 manufacturing plants. Standards proposed by the Environ mental Protection Agency would re duce the acceptable amount of chlo ride from 10 to 5 parts per million in air or water discharges. Though the reduction appears sig nificant. Rnlnh n.-irdiic: President of the Society of the Plastics Industry, complained it woulu flu liTi.iT* prove air miniMy IW!lll.ii* Of t he rein- uvclv lamer a mu uni u'1 -aslhii 1 would Continue to Tnrourii tun fin* trolled nmnts \\\ \\u manufacturing BFS